


Freefalling Towns

by starbboy



Series: waiting for it, that green light [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Green Lantern - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: COPIOUS jane austen references, Getting Together, M/M, cursing n stuff, hal and guy are domestic but also awful, i didn't do any of this in jays pov ut like it was too long and i was tired so, it's jaykyle time babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:13:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26363218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbboy/pseuds/starbboy
Summary: Jason interrupts then, opens the door of the bathroom and leans on the frame. His sweatpants have been pushed up to the knee and a grin, just on the border of seeming unhinged settles on his face. His presence seems bigger than it did five minutes ago, Kyle thinks. Or maybe it’s just the fact that he can properly see Jason’s face. There aren’t shadows to hide the small details now, like Jason’s freckles, the scar the stretches across his cheek which Kyle hasn’t seen before or the fading dark circles under his eyes.He looks good.Kyle's turn for a gay panic.
Relationships: Guy Gardner & Jason Todd, Guy Gardner/Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: waiting for it, that green light [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774906
Comments: 37
Kudos: 345





	Freefalling Towns

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a while! finally here is the jaykyle stuff  
> ALSO, for those who didn't see [@wave-doodles](https://wave-doodles.tumblr.com/) on tumblr did this awesome piece of [fanart](https://wave-doodles.tumblr.com/post/625923987282771968/rooftop-serenade-click-for-better-quality) for the series and I love it a lot check it out!  
> enjoy :)

Kyle is bored out of his mind and standing in some dark corner, feeling very much like a Bat, when he realizes he can’t see Hal.

He’s at some Justice League Party, an early December morale booster type thing on the Watchtower, surrounded by tons of other heroes from the League, Titans and various other assorted groups that he probably couldn’t name. It’s a friendly atmosphere, but not one without a decent undercurrent of tension, but they were heroes, there was always drama, stress and fallings out - couldn't be helped really. He talked to some people earlier, most notably Simon and Jess, who were finally looking more comfortable at these events, at least outwardly and Donna, who was doing well for herself, they had made plans to meet and catch up when Kyle was on his scheduled leave, in some cafe that was quieter where Donna wouldn’t get whisked away at random to talk to someone else, but he had chatted randomly with others as well, old Titan teammates and random friendlier heroes that were usually new to scene.

He didn’t mind it; it was a fun excursion that the Guardians always granted them a few days off for and it wasn’t like the break from duties wasn’t welcome. That being said, he’d have preferred to spend the break checking in on his mom and spending some time drawing rather than standing in a room full of capes. It was partially his own fault, Guy had come along to Earth but hadn’t attended the Party and Kyle could have done the same but curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had decided to attend, if only to check up on his friends and hear some of the current superhero news.

Yet here he was, standing alone and getting none of said gossip, noticing a distinct lack of Harold Jordan.

The fact that his anxiety levels spiked after realizing that was telling, really.

Kyle racked his brains and came up with a few plausible scenarios ranging from okayish (leaving to hook up with someone in a watchtower bathroom) to really fucking bad (leaving after getting too drunk and accidentally getting indoctrinated into a hamster cult or leaving and getting badly hurt in a fight, the latter seemed more likely). Things were usually fine, Hal was a grown man, he had most of his shit together, he’d be okay.

Kyle might check up on him though, just in case. You could never be too sure.

He zoned back into the real world, mind set on a mission. He floated upwards slightly to get a better view, trying to minimize the green glow coming from him as he located John, might as well invite him along, or at least inform him of what he was doing. Mercifully, John was alone, refilling his cup meaning Kyle wouldn’t have to butt into any conversations or wait to begin his search.

He pushes through the crowd, the turnout for this party was surprisingly high, usually a good fraction of people can’t make it but it seems like trouble decided to miraculously die down for the get together. There are still a few noticeable absences that Kyle can pick out, a few Bats, Roy Harper and that Raven girl amongst others, but he thinks about eighty percent of the people who got invited showed up. It’s nice to have such a lively atmosphere, but it does make moving around hard - Kyle stumbles into at least two people on his way to John.

John smiles at him when he sees Kyle, but there's a question shining in his eyes. He moves to pour Kyle a drink though, which is appreciated.

“What’s up?” John asks, handing Kyle squash. Sometimes the Justice League get togethers remind Kyle painfully of High School events.

“Hal’s vanished. Do you want to help me find him?”

The corner of John’s lips twitch up, “Why not. Should we ask Simon and Jess?” His tone of voice betrays some amusement, Kyle gets the feeling he knows something that might be important. 

He looks over to where he saw Simon and Jess last, sticking together despite looking less overwhelmed. Jess in the middle of explaining something, hand gestures and a couple odd expressions for emphasis. Simon is listening to her, but he doesn’t seem like he’s catching much of it. They seem content enough and Kyle would feel bad to drag them on a “where’s Hal” trip when they’re finally settling in. It’ll just have to be the two of them.

“No, they look like they’re having fun,” He tells John, picking his cup up and making to move out to one of the quieter hallways of the watchtower. John follows him, nodding at a confused Superman as he passes.

“Ring scan for Hal Jordan.” Kyle says, once they’ve walked far enough away that the voices are not much more than a muffled hum.

**“Green Lantern Hal Jordan of Sector 2814 is 5067.7785 Earth miles away.”**

“So, he's on Earth then.” Kyle says frowning, “Why would he go down there now?”

“I think I have an idea.” John says, not bothering to elaborate. “Do you want to go down there?” 

“I was planning on it. Where are we looking first?”

John makes a small questioning noise before he looks at Kyle, a practiced mask of stoicism on his face.

“We could split up? Twenty dollars I find him before you do.” Okay yeah. Kyle isn’t that stupid, he knows John is messing with him, and usually he’d take the bet anyway - the fatal flaw of being part of a group known stubbornness and self-assuredness - but this would be a clear loss from the get-go if he agrees.

“No. Why don’t we follow your hunch?” He replies, moving over to the hatch that leads to the cold expanse of space, suiting up. It’s the longer route, but people will notice if they use the zeta tubes and they don’t really need to deal with other people’s questions. They have a Hal Jordan to catch. It’s not like flying will take eons either, probably twenty minutes at best.

Kyle lets John step out first, watching as he flashes his suit on. He follows afterward. Shutting the doors behind him securely.

“Where to?” He asks as he follows John’s lead speeding away from the Watchtower.

“East Coast.” John replies and if Kyle weren’t so accustomed to receiving shocking information in the middle of action, he’d have stopped dead in his tracks. What was Harold Jordan, California as he lives and breathes, doing on the East Coast? Well, he goes for missions and hero stuff, but John had implied this was for fun. Kyle was seriously missing some important information.

* * *

Kyle begins to catch on when they fly over a looming harbour which he has learnt to associate with loud laughter and ginger hair. His theory gets confirmed when they land on top of Guy Gardner’s apartment building.

He hasn’t been here in years; Guy doesn’t invite them over despite the increasing amount of time he’s been spending on Earth recently. Kyle doesn’t mind, he doesn’t bring them over to his New York place much, but that's mostly because of the mess it’s constantly in.

But just because he’s caught on to where they’re going doesn’t mean he understands it, he tells John as much when they arrive.

“He went to visit Guy? He left a party and his friends he hasn’t seen in months to go see Guy?” He asks, voice a shouted whisper. “Guy’s cool but Hal saw him this morning, why did he fly to Earth to visit him?”

John just pats him on the shoulder before hopping off the edge of the building to float down to what is presumably Guy’s window. Looking through it, Kyle recognises the place, they’re in Space so much there isn’t really any time or reason to do re-modelling and Guy has never been one to give a shit about home design. That being said, there are a few major differences. There are more plants, most of which are dead for some inexplicable reason, Guy’s table is gone and there are more photos hung up - small and too far away for Kyle to pick who is in the photos, but one person who definitely isn’t Guy seems to pop up a lot.

John nudges him and his attention snaps up to Guy’s kitchen space. It’s at an odd angle so it’s hard to see everything, but it’s pretty clear that both Hal and Guy are there and they seem to be…. baking? 

_What?_

_Hal left the party to go bake with Guy?_

Or at least try to bake with Guy. They’re surrounded by baking equipment and ingredients but they seem to be too engrossed in bickering to actually do anything else. The kitchen is messy and both men have patches of flour and of their hair, faces and clothes. Chocolate is smeared rather comically around Hal’s mouth and on Guy’s cheekbone and Kyle thinks he can see a small bit of what is either butter or batter on the end of Guy’s nose.

They continue bickering for two minutes (Kyle notices that Hal’s arm has been wrapped around Guy’s hip the entire time) before John gets bored and taps on the window. The two of them turn to it in sync, twin faces of surprise. Kyle can see Guy’s ring hand turn into a fist in preparation but it immediately relaxes when he sees John and Kyle. Guy raises an eyebrow but moves over to the window, opening it up and letting them in he shuts it quickly afterwards to stop too much cold air getting in. Hal is still standing in the kitchen but there's a new red flush on his face.

“What are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too Hal.” Kyle replies, out of the corner of his eye he can see John and Guy have some sort of weird nonverbal argument, “We came to find you after you left the Watchtower. What are _you_ doing here?” The other two seem to have concluded their argument, John has a smile on his face and Guy is pouting.

Hal shrugs, “I got bored.” with an air of fake nonchalance but Kyle doesn’t get time to question it because Guy jumps in interrupting.

“You two want somethin to drink?” You can take the man out of the bar but you can take the bar out of the man. Or something like that.

John and Kyle take the barstools, Kyle wipes his sleeve across the seat to get rid of the alarming amount of flour that has managed to get there. Kyle has seen both of them cook. He’s eaten their cooking. He knows Guy at least is a pretty good cook and Hal can make a few things. Yet somehow when they decide to do it together it ends up looking like a warzone. On some level, that makes sense. On another level Kyle can’t wrap his head around it.

Guy hands them both a beer, a stark change from all that watered down squash Kyle has been drinking tonight. Absently, he remembers he left his empty cup in the middle of the hallway. Oh well.

Hal and Guy stand in the kitchen together, it’s cramped but Kyle notices that they have more space to move around than they let themselves have while they clean up. It turns out they had been making cookies, they had been ready to put in the oven when Kyle and John had caught them arguing despite the mess making it seem otherwise. Still, the two stuck by each other as they cleaned up, letting John complain about the party. Kyle adds in funny bits and pieces when he can, but John’s general dry sarcasm makes for perfect hilarious storytelling so he mostly just listens.

The topic of conversation moves at rapid fire, the same way it always does with them - they never bother to over discuss a topic, once it’s boring it’s boring, they have an endless stream of things to talk about no point wasting time on one. It makes the time seem to fly by when it actually crawls, a realization that always seems to startle Kyle when he checks the time, looking at Guy’s oven clock now, he sees only fifteen minutes have passed.

It’s easy to slip in and out of the conversation if needed. When the four of them manage to congregate they’re often at the end of their lines, exhausted and in need of something mindless. It’s rare that heavy topics come up when they’re a group, they’ve learnt to provide each other with the mindless chatter they crave and it’s become an unbreakable habit. It means Kyle can zone out to focus on something else and then rejoin and still be able to contribute and god if he doesn’t value that. 

He zones out right now, there's small voices at the back of his head bugging him, things just on the verge of being recognized that he still can’t fully piece together. It’s easier to look over them when noise is reduced to a background hum.

However, that doesn’t stop him from hearing the very human groan coming from Guy’s bedroom.

He freezes, eyes flicking to the door and then to Guy, but to his utter confusion Guy doesn’t react apart from a widening smile. He continues chattering, talking to a concerned John, who looks at Kyle with raised eyebrows.

Straining his ears, Kyle listens and he can pick up a quiet sigh and some creaking that in no way reassures him. Neither Hal nor Guy are offering up explanation, the conversation having transitioned into the two of them bickering lightly while John watches on. The fact that they seem unperturbed by the noise puts Kyle at a little ease, but it’s clashed by Kyle’s lack of knowledge of the situation. He doubts it will be a serious threat, if one at all, but he keeps his ring at the ready just in case.

He doesn’t expect a very tired figure to open the door. Jesus, how many people are hanging out in Guy’s apartment right now? The person is tall and would be imposing if they weren’t wearing an oversized hoodie and sweatpants. Kyle sees curly black hair poking out from under the hood and his eyes focus on the face, trying to figure out who th-

_Holy. Fucking. Shit._

_That’s Jason Todd._

Kyle hasn’t seen the other man in years, but it’s unmistakably Jason Todd, odd green eyes and scars to boot. It’s Jason Todd. Jason Todd standing in Guy’s apartment, half asleep wearing a hoodie.

_What the fuck._

Kyle manages to tear his eyes away from Jason (has he somehow gotten taller, he already seemed to tower over Kyle?) to see Guy catch wind of the new person in the room. Kyle doesn’t know how he was expecting him to react, but it definitely wasn’t to smile widely and move over to hug him. He’s even more lost when Jason hugs back easily.

Again: _What the fuck._

“You’re awake!” Guy says, once they pull away. Kyle has decided to ignore his brain imploding and watch this happen.

“Mm.” Jason replies, which seems a little more in character, he then narrows his eyes at Guy accusingly. “You didn’t tell me people were coming.” His voice is deeper than Kyle remembers it, but maybe that’s just the exhaustion.

“I didn’t know.” Guy replies easily.

For some reason Jason settles for his answer, which is another change, back when they worked together Jason wouldn’t let Kyle go without a longer explanation, there were a few times where they ended up beating a dead horse with a stick for far too long with their back and forth, even after they warmed up to each other. It was a Bat habit, not one of Kyle’s favourites though. Yet here he was, moving on without any hesitation.

“Are they staying for dinner?” Jason asks.

“Uh, hold on.” Guy turns to the two of them, “Do you guys want to stay for dinner?”

John shrugs, “Yeah, why not?” and Kyle nods, not trusting himself to speak without the floodgate of questions opening just yet.

Guy turns back to Jason, who looks thoroughly unimpressed, arms crossed and eyebrow raised, “Yeah they’re stayin’”

Jason sighs, but there's a small smile on his face, one that Kyle is wholly unfamiliar with. “Okay. Give me five minutes and I’ll make something.”

Kyle remembers Jason’s cooking from their multiverse adventure and he immediately gets excited. If his brain is to implode from the absurdity and surprise of this situation, he deserves nice food to accompany it.

Guy frowns, “You just woke up Jace, I can cook.”

 _No Guy! Shut up!_ Also, Jace?

“Nah.” Jason says firmly. “I’m gonna.” _Oh, thank god._

Jason looks up at them properly, for the first time. Those unnatural green eyes catching on each of their faces as he nods the corners of his mouth flicking upward.

“Hi Jason,” Hal says.

“Hey Hal.” Jason replies, and with that the conversation seems to be over since Jason moves to the bathroom and shuts the door.

Kyle immediately turns to Guy and feels John do the same. He thinks they deserve answers.

“That’s Jason Todd.”

Guy grins and raises an eyebrow. “Yup.”

“Why is Jason Todd in your apartment?” Kyle asks, slightly frantic.

“He lives here,” Guy replies with a juxtaposing and irritating simplicity. Kyle’s brain implodes again as he tries to make sense of the statement.

Jason Todd. Jason Todd lives with Guy Gardner. It makes sense, they had a sense of familiarity when interacting but the concept feels so alien to Kyle. He’s witnessed so much, seen so much that sometimes he thinks there is no such thing as a unique concept anymore and yet the possibility of Guy and Jason Todd living together is something he’d never even think of. He thinks back to the casualness of Jason and Guy’s conversation, from what he knows of Jason’s character, the man has heaps of trust issues, even after months with Kyle and Donna there was a lingering wariness yet when talking to Guy there was no lingering paranoia or hesitance present. That kind of easiness doesn’t come naturally to Jason Todd, which means they’ve known each other for a while.

“How long?” Kyle asks, voicing the tail end of his thought process. 

Guy cocks his head in consideration, “Just under one and a half years now.”

 _“One and a half years?”_ This night really has just been Kyle getting repeatedly punched in the gut with information hasn’t it, huh?

He knows he’s starting to sound like a broken record, but one more time for good measure: _What the fuck?_

“Well, closer to one and a quarter but yeah.” Guy shrugs, Kyle knows the other man is aware of his inner turmoil. He’s just choosing to ignore it.

“You knew as well Hal.” John says interrupting Kyle's spiralling train of thought. He doesn’t seem as bothered by this information as Kyle is. But then again, John didn’t go universe hopping with the man.

Kyle turns to Hal, “Wait, yeah you did!” He swivels back to face Guy, “How come you told Hal but not us?”

“I only found out because I passed out on Guy after that invasion in Central in June and he brought me here.” Hal says, swirling his drink. It really does seem as though Kyle is the only one having a mental breakdown. “He’s tight lipped about the kid, don’t take it personally.”

Kyle hums, before a thought strikes him, “Was this your hunch? Is this why you thought Hal would be here?” Kyle says to John, completing the full circle of questioning.

John looks at him bemused. “No. I had no clue about Jason. It was-” He pauses, eyes flicking between Hal and Guy in a way Kyle can’t decipher, “-something else, unimportant.”

Kyle lets it slide; he’s had enough surprise truths for the night. 

“Does Batman know?” It’s a logical question. Jason is a Bat (or at least, Bat-associated, like Catwoman) and Kyle’s pretty sure you can’t get a month into the hero business without learning of Batman’s _strong dislike_ of the Lanterns, Guy and Hal specifically.

But, however logical, Kyle immediately regrets asking when both Hal and Guy tense up and the faint clattering Kyle could hear from the bathroom stops.

“Nah.” Guy replies shortly, it’s hard to mistake the anger on his face, directed towards someone he can only see in his imagination. “And he won’t.”

It’s a clear warning, not one Kyle’s going to go against but the mix of withheld information and surprisingly controlled anger in Guy’s voice unsettles him. Next to him, John frowns but makes no move to further question Guy. They can both sense that they’ve hit a wall, it would be no use trying to go on.

Jason interrupts then, opens the door of the bathroom and leans on the frame. He’s changed into a T-Shirt, it’s still too big for him but now Kyle can see the scars and freckles littered down his arms. His sweatpants have been pushed up to the knee and a grin, just on the border of seeming unhinged settles on his face. His presence seems bigger than it did five minutes ago, Kyle thinks. Or maybe it’s just the fact that he can properly see Jason’s face. There aren’t shadows to hide the small details now, like Jason’s freckles, the scar the stretches across his cheek which Kyle hasn’t seen before or the fading dark circles under his eyes.

He looks good.

“You give them the rundown or am I walking into an unexpected press conference?” He says, passing Guy as he squeezes into the kitchen. Guy ruffles hair in response.

“I appreciate your faith in me Jace.” Guy walks out of the kitchen to lean on the bar next to Kyle. Jason smiles at him ruefully.

He stops to take a look at the kitchen then, eyes scanning over it making a quick assessment. It still looks pretty messy, Guy and Hal had ditched cleaning for chat about halfway in. Kyle watches as Jason’s lips twist into a little frown before he looks up at Hal, who currently has a sheepish expression on his face. Jason raises an eyebrow silently.

“We made cookies?”

“How is it?” Jason begins slowly, “How is it. That both of you are perfectly decent bakers on your own, but the second you pair up everything goes to shit?” Amusement seeps through his tone.

“The cookies turned out alright!” Hal protests.

“But the kitchen didn’t.” Jason replies, eyeing the splotches of dough on the wall tiles.

John huffs in laughter as Jason herds a pouting Hal out of the kitchen grabbing a wet cloth and beginning to work at cleaning up the mess left behind.

“Oh I like this one. I can't believe you didn’t tell us about him Guy.” John says, nudging Guy in the back, and making him wipe the fake frown, from when Jason had been admonishing the two of them off his face.

“Funnily enough, Hal said the same thing.” Guy replies.

“Sometimes, that man thinks sensible thoughts.” John hums. Hal sticks his tongue out at him, he moves over to them, grabbing Guy’s hand and leading him to the couch. It was getting crowded around the bar. John gets up and follows the two of them, picking up his drink with a small green hand construct as he goes.

Kyle doesn’t follow them, barely realizes that they leave, he stays sitting on Guy’s old wobbly bar stool, sipping his drink and watching as Jason moves on from cleaning to making food. 

Kyle’s seen Jason cook before when they went on their crazy multiverse adventure with Donna. He was always the one who would scrounge up food wherever they were staying, despite both Donna and Kyle knowing how to cook. It was a role he took on easily, and with no complaints from his teammates, quite the opposite honestly, when they realized Jason’s cooking was _really good._ Hell, even while Kyle was deep in the middle of his (self admittedly) one sided rivalry (which Jason egged on dangerously) he could admit that Jason was probably the best cook out of the three of them. It surprised him; of all the assumptions he’d built up around the man ‘good cook’ was not one of them. Honestly, that probably helped him re-evaluate his stance on Jason and allowed him to move on from that awful rivalry (which still made Kyle cringe slightly when he thought back on it) to shaky allies and then maybe sort of friends.

Jason cooking was always interesting to watch, the way he moves on instinct, recipes as second nature to him as fighting sometimes. He moves fluidly, with a grace you’d expect more from Nightwing than the Red Hood, and he works in a way that's economical, if he could grab a colander, close a cupboard door and switch off a stove in one motion, he would. He mapped out the kitchens of the places they stayed quickly, so he’d never have to search for equipment and get slowed down cooking. If he was productive cooking in an unfamiliar space, Kyle can only wonder how easy it must be in a space he’s lived in for the past year.

His fingers itch to draw it. He thinks he might have some sketches of Jason cooking from way back, he probably has sketches of Jason fighting and resting as well, somewhere in some old sketchbook lying on the floor of his apartment.

“Ravioli good for you guys?” Jason calls out, startling Kyle from his thoughts.

“Sounds great Jace!” Guy replies.

“Cool.” Jason says, and then he continues, in a normal volume, “Rayner? You good?”

“Sorry,” Kyle shakes himself completely into the present, “Yeah that’s fine.”

Jason tilts his head and purses his lips, before shrugging. He moves over to grab some ingredients, switching on the stove with one arm and leaning his other elbow back to shut the high cupboard door. Kyle notices that while Jason is built well, and probably around 6 feet tall, he still has to stand on his tiptoes to accomplish both at the same time. He turns back around, cradling eggs, spices and a dangerous amount of tomatoes in front of him in the worktop.

He pauses and frowns, for a Bat he was very open with his emotions, probably why he wore that dumb hood, turning back around and rummaging through the fridge and pulling out a half empty bag of spinach.

“If you’re gonna sit there, d’you mind helping out?” Jason asks, the right corner of his lip twitching up into a half smile. His eyes both shine with something akin to amusement, Jason is laughing at him, but Kyle doesn’t think it’s unkindly, more a mix of interest and faint surprise. 

Out of all the Bats, Jason was always the most interesting to Kyle in terms of expression, one might think Nightwing was a better candidate, because of how he lets his whole body react, tuned into the fluidity and acrobatics that he fights with on a civilian level as well. Or maybe that Black Bat girl, who hides in the shadows but communicates through gestures and dances rather than words. Batman himself would never really be interesting to watch, expression and reaction was trained out of him, repressed in a way that becomes habit. Kyle has no interest in someone who hides, there’s nothing to gain inspiration from, to analyse. 

Honestly, to an extent all the Bats repress, it’s a group habit and it unnerves Kyle, frustrates him because he doesn’t see the point. Trust is important, and Kyle struggles to feel that the Bat’s really trust anyone else if they feel the need to block things off. Maybe they don’t trust anyone else, it wouldn’t surprise him. To some degree he gets it, there's a time and place for emotional reactions, and sometimes you need to block things out to focus but the degree some Bats take it to, especially the man himself, is a bit overkill.

And then there’s Jason. And sure, he refuses to talk about what’s bothering him and pushes it back, it’s not as if Wayne left no mark on him but his old reliance on anger has gotten in the pattern of being, well Kyle wouldn’t say vulnerable exactly, but open. He lets you know what his issues are, he doesn’t hide his emotions but uses them to motivate his fight and back when they worked together Kyle found it mesmerising how Jason would direct his anger or even exhaustion into the fight, use it. It didn’t matter if his moves became less precise, because the emotions kept him going, kept him moving.

His body moves on instinct, driven by what Jason is feeling, but his face, so often hidden by that ugly red bucket, is the most expressive thing about him. It can twist into harsh lines or cold laughter but is just as easily turned into genuine smiles and an excitement that manages to highlight his button nose and the barely noticeable layer of leftover baby fat that he won’t ever grow out of. 

Jason has range, which Kyle would expect from someone as dramatic as him, and it’s so interesting to see it being used to convey a million and one little things, every small annoyance and everything that's making him happy at this point in time. 

To capture everything his expression holds is the kind of drawing Kyle would challenge himself with because there is so much that every small line holds.

“Zoning out again Rayner,” Jason says, mouth curled into more of a smirk but those damn green eyes hold the same expression as before.

“Shit, yeah, I’ll help, what do you need me to do?”

“Cut up tomatoes and vegetables for the sauce? Guy tells me you’re a good cook, so it should be easy right?” Jason smiles, a little more genuinely this time, before dumping a chopping board, knife and vegetables in front of Kyle.

He himself gets out a measuring scale and starts weighing up the flour, and only then does it hit Kyle that he’s making ravioli from scratch. Logically, he knows it’s not too hard to do but it’s one of those concepts that seems so other worldly to him for some reason.

He tells Jason so, breaking the tentative silence they created, the kind of thing that settles between old not-quite friends or acquaintances, after awkward lonely run ins with no one to fill in or mediate. Kyle doesn’t mind it, it reminds him of back on that multiverse adventure, when Jason was trying to present himself as the quiet brooding type and ultimately failing due to his pressing need to be dramatic and make obscure literary references. Still, Kyle interrupts that silence to make his pressing statement about pasta.

“Always figured, if you can make it yourself, why not? Might take a little longer but it’s usually worth it.” Jason huffs in response, the white streak of hair that flops down over his face floating up.

“Usually?”

“Not up to sharing my deepest darkest secrets with you just yet, Rayner. Maybe next time.” And with that he taps the side of Kyle’s head with his finger before moving away.

Silence falls on them again and Kyle tunes into the conversation going on behind him, right as Guy decides to make some awfully vulgar sex joke. He turns around to glare at him, which Guy doesn’t notice until John pokes him to let him know. Guy just grins and waves, while Hal lifts his head from Guy’s lap, where it was apparently lying to raise an eyebrow at him. Kyle just sighs and goes back to chopping tomatoes.

He’s chopped about twelve of them and gotten a decent amount of pits and juice sprayed on him, by the time Jason moves back to face him, they don’t speak for a while longer, but Jason grabs the tomatoes gratefully and dumps them in a pan.

“Is there anything else I can do?” Kyle asks, feeling a bit awkward just sitting there while Jason works. He also likes the privilege of being allowed to help out after Guy and Hal were kicked out.

Jason looks up in mild surprise, before contemplating. “Cut the onions, I guess? And then put them in the pan with the tomatoes and seasoning. There won’t be much to do until the dough comes out the fridge.” 

Kyle shrugs, grabs a clean knife and gets to work. He creates a safety goggle construct from his ring when cutting the onions, it tints his entire vision green, but he really hates the sensation of crying from cutting onions so in his mind it’s a necessary evil. He feels a little more stupid when he hears Jason laughing softly. He pouts in response which only makes Jason laugh harder.

“Ridiculous.” Jason says, and Kyle swears he can hear a hint of fondness in his tone. He’s not sure if Jason is talking about the action itself or Kyle in general. He supposes it’s a fitting description either way.

“It, uh, must have been pretty weird huh?” Jason begins out of blue a bit later and upon seeing Kyle’s confusion he clarifies, “Finding out I live with Guy.”

Kyle shrugs, “Yeah, but we’ve both seen weirder.” He moves to tip the onions into the pan. “How did you two meet anyway?”

“He found me on a rooftop when he was coming back from Oa and invited me here. Then I just never left. Not that he tried to make me leave.” Jason replies, which doesn’t really explain much.

“The more I think about it, the more it makes sense,” Kyle shrugs, “You guys are similar.”

Jason raises his eyebrow, “And you feel qualified to make that assessment?”

“I- uh-”

“Relax Kyle, I was joking.” Jason smiles, bumping Kyles hip gently. Kyle decides that Jason’s sense of humour is an acquired taste.

They finish the ravioli and sauce in the next quarter of an hour, and Jason lets Kyle watch as he cooks them, logically Kyle knows this step is the same as with store-bought ravioli but somehow it feels different. 

Jason throws a towel at Guy to grab the others attention.

“Hey!”

“Food’s ready.” Jason says ladling sauce on to all of the dishes. They had to pretty much ransack the kitchen to find six bowls, a habit of not having guests over, Kyle thinks, no need for much cutlery. It does mean that all of their bowls are hilariously mismatched and Jason ends up muttering about buying bowls.

Guy jumps at the announcement. “Oh shit, Jordan get off, food’s done.” He exclaims, shoving Hal’s head off his lap. Kyle still isn’t sure how Hal was allowed to lie there in the first place. 

Hal grumbles, sitting up, “I feel like you should stop calling me Jordan at this point.”

“Nah.” Guy shrugs, grabbing two bowls from the counter, Hal reaches for one of the plates that he comes back with but Guy just sticks his tongue and hands the plate to John. The expression Hal makes after that is the kind Kyle would have taken a photo of and sent to Donna, Connor, Jess or Simon with no context. He looks outrageously betrayed, it’s hilarious.

He starts laughing and hears Jason snort in front of him, as he hands Hal his plate. Jason balances himself expertly on the arm of the couch, leaning his leg on Guy. Never mind that one of them could just make a construct chair. Kyle settles into the armchair as Hal puts one hand to his chest and points a Guy with the other.

“I am getting no love! I’m leaving and I’m taking Jason.”

Guy grins and slips into an opposing character. “Nuh-uh. Jason wants to stay with me.”

“Oh, does he?” Hal retorts, back grinning. Once again Kyle is getting that feeling that he’s missing something.

“If I were you,” John pipes in, “I’d take the chance to get away from both of them.” He squawks when Hal pokes him in the ribs.

“Good idea,” Jason smiles, “You got a spare bedroom I could borrow for a bit?”

“All yours.” John replies ignoring Guy and Hal’s dual looks of betrayal.

“You are depriving me of good pizza John! Do you want to do that?” Hal whines.

“I’m concerned about how dependent you are on that pizza.” Jason comments.

Hal hums, “It’s like with Pringles ‘once you pop you just can’t stop’ except pizza is actually good.” Jason smiles again. Kyle thinks he’s seen Jason smile more in this one night than he did their entire multiverse trip. He looks nice when he’s smiling, younger. Kyle wants to see him do it more often.

“Are you saying Pringles are bad Jordan?” Guy challenges. 

“And what if I am Gardner?” Hal smirks, leaning close to Guy, a cocky smirk on his face. He can see both Jason and John roll their eyes, mentally preparing for the inevitable useless squabble that will come next. Their arguments have become more friendly and cheeky as of late, rather than heated, but the structure to each petty fight is the same, so it’s not really interesting unless you’re the one arguing.

Kyle zones out, realizing that his pasta is getting cold. Which naturally means he has to stack up three pieces and shove them in his mouth. He locks eyes with Jason when his mouth is full and gives him an awkward thumbs up, slightly hunched up so his plate doesn’t fall over. Jason looks mildly disappointed, which Kyle guesses is fair, but he gives Kyle a small grin anyway, shaking his head.

Dinner is nice, and by that Kyle means both food and the general event. Once John gets bored of Hal and Guy’s in depth debate about Pringles, he pokes Hal in the side, cutting him off mid-rant, and immediately changing the subject giving the two of them no chance to restart their discussion. It’s a smart move and Jason finds it hilarious, judging by the way his eyes brighten and how he nudges Guy.

John starts recounting stupid stories of their time on duty to an enamoured Jason who butts in with a few tales of Guy’s stupidity on Earth. Kyle listens in for a while smiling and Guy and Hal make noises of protest and try to defend their past selves but at some point Jason and John switch tune and their conversation becomes incredibly vague.

“So, do you know about…?” John gestures and somehow Jason understands.

“Oh god, do I? I was stuck watching it a while back and it was equal parts frustrating and cute. Was it the same up there?”

John groans, “Unfortunately. I was this close to taking it into my hands, the second hand embarrassment, _man_.” He says shaking his head, Jason laughs.

“My condolences to your sanity.”

“Don’t worry, it was long gone.” John replies. Kyle is so confused.

Guy stands up then, clearing his throat looking slightly uncomfortable. He opens his mouth to say something, but when he realizes both John and Jason are staring at him with smirks on their faces, he wisely shuts his mouth and clears the plates. Hal stretches out over what was previously Guy’s spot on the sofa grinning. 

From the kitchen, Kyle hears Guy snort.

“We did it again.”

Jason looks up from sticking his tongue out at Hal, “Really? What time is it?”

“One fucking thirty.”

“Christ,” Hal breathes, “We probably shouldn’t be surprised at this point.”

“Probably not,” Jason agrees, swinging his legs off the sofa.

“We should probably get going then,” John begins, elbowing Kyle. For some reason he ignores Hal, or assumes he’ll be spending the night here.

“It’s fine,” Jason asserts, “We have some blow up mattresses somewhere and enough blankets to provide for an army, you guys can stay the night.”

Kyle wants nothing more than to agree and flop down to sleep, but John, as the only one with even a little bit of knowledge on how to act like a normal house guest protests. That’s fine, as long as he doesn’t drag Kyle into this. He doesn’t want to fly back to New York.

“You don’t have to, it’s not a long flight for either of us.” John says, creeping into that tone he sometimes uses with rookie Green Lanterns. 

“Johnny, stay. It’s half one, an’ like Jace said, we have mattresses, it’s no hassle.” Guy interrupts then, before this can devolve into the two of them having a similar back and forth that Kyle has seen his mom do with her friends after a dinner party.

John looks back at Kyle then, who stares directly back at him trying to convey that he doesn’t want to fly anywhere at fuck o’clock in the morning. John stares back at him with a look of amused resignation.

“Fine then.” John sighs and Kyle sees Jason brighten slightly before moving away to try and find what they need.

Everything has been set up twenty minutes later and they’ve all changed into sleep clothes. Kyle is sure that everyone is wearing Guy’s stuff, even Jason, who has his own clothes here. Only Guy and John really fit into what they’re wearing, the clothes are varyingly baggy on the other three of them.

They cleared a space in the living room, moving aside the coffee table and shoving the sofa back to make room for the two blow up mattresses Jason found and Guy and Hal piled a frankly alarming amount of blankets on and around them. In the end it turned out looking like a half assed adult blanket den. Kyle loves it.

“Right all done!” Hal grins, “One person on the couch and the rest on the mattresses. Perfect. Hey, wait! Jason, where are you going?” Hal asks.

Jason freezes, looking slightly guilty standing next to the bedroom door. Kyle hadn’t noticed him moving away, but that’s on Jason’s bat and assassin training not him.

“I- uh- I figured you guys would- '' Jason stutters, and it’s bizarre for Kyle to hear this person that he’s equated with unbreakable self assuredety and confidence so sound so unsure. “I didn’t want to intr-”

“Nope. Nope, nope nope!” Guy announces, striding forward towards Jason. “You are not escapin’ that easily. I want hugs.” 

And somehow, it’s as simple as that, because Guy pulls Jason in for a hug, which is easily reciprocated, and then pulls Jason back towards them with no complaint from him. Jason still looks a little unsure but he isn’t actively making a break for it. 

They settle down after that. Guy and Jason take one mattress, Hal takes one half of the other and Kyle and John flip coins to see who gets the couch. Kyle wins and he flops down immediately, sticking his hand out for a thumbs up when John throws a blanket up at him from his temporary position as Hal Jordan’s pillow.

He falls asleep slowly, listening to the rhythm of Guy’s borderline snoring mixing with the dying down whirring of the lights and the occasional roar of the cars outside.

* * *

Kyle wakes up to quiet chatter and the cold winter sunlight on his face, he rubs at his eyes, arms sore from being tucked under his body while he slept. The first thing he sees is the worn out back cushion of a couch. He reaches one of his thumbs to trace over the patchy fabric. The second thing he sees is John’s face appearing above him suddenly.

Kyle jolts and opens his mouth to yell in surprise but John reacts at lighting speed constructing something to cover his mouth and cut off his scream. It dissolves quickly and John shoots him an apologetic look.

“Sorry. Guy and Jason are still asleep.” He says, handing Kyle one of the steaming mugs of instant coffee he was holding. The mug says ‘ _BITCH’_ on it in black letters, with the handle making up the B which Kyle vaguely registers as being very in character for Guy as he takes the coffee.

Kyle hears someone, presumably Hal, grumble from the kitchen. “You didn’t let me sleep when you woke up but you assault Kyle to make sure Guy and Jason don’t wake up. I see how it is.”

“First of all, I didn’t _assault_ Kyle,” John rolls his eyes, “And second, I needed the toilet and you were lying on me. Forgive me.”

“And after that?”

John shrugs, “I was hungry.” 

Hal mutters under his breath for a few more seconds while Kyle finally sits up properly and looks around. John has migrated back to the bar stools and Hal is standing in the kitchen. They must have opened the window because there’s a cold breeze flowing through that makes Kyle wrap his blanket (which he’s only just realized is pink with green spots on it spread around in a pattern Kyle would lovingly call an eyesore) around him.

From below him and a little to the left Kyle can hear soft breathing and when he looks down, he sees the very comfortable sleeping figures of Guy Gardner and Jason Todd, blissfully unaware of the world in their slumber.

Guy is lying on his back, one arm flopped above him in a way that reminds Kyle of those gestures’ women would make before they faint in old movies. That or the body of a murder victim, Kyle chooses to go with the first analogy. Guy’s mouth is hanging open slightly and Kyle can see the rise and fall of his chest and he sleeps. What Kyle focuses on though, is Guy’s other arm, which is wrapped tightly around Jason, hand resting about halfway down Jason’s spine. Jason has somehow managed to tuck himself into Guy’s side, face resting just under the crook arm and his entire body curled up in a way that allows his feet to tangle next to Guy’s knee. He looks surprisingly small and _young,_ like the early-twenties young man he is and not the tired mercenary that had to grow up too fast. His lips are squished together into a little pout and one of his arms is slung over Guy’s waist in a seemingly careless fashion until Kyle notices that his fingers are gripping Guy’s side absently.

It’s both surprising and unsurprising how much the two of them seem to unconsciously trust each other. On one hand Kyle gets it, it’s been a year and a bit, from what he’s heard trust with Jason is a slow build up and then, more often than not, everything at once. And the more that Kyle thinks about it the more it makes sense, the two of them are similar; categorized as the angry, loose cannon of the group they’re in. Kyle remembers Guy explaining that a lot of his early issues with Hal stem from the fact that Hal was liked in a way no one in the hero community had ever really liked Guy and that he had to deal with the constant comparisons to Hal, this man he could never be. And they worked it out of course, the two of them are close as anything now, all four of them are. But Kyle’s willing to bet, based on the stuff Donna has told him, and old gossip he’s heard that maybe Jason had a similar (yet more unfixable issue) with Dick Grayson, the Robin before him. And Kyle thinks that maybe the main difference between the Lanterns and Bats is that the four of them have been able to talk through their problems and emotions in a way that Mr Repression King and his little gaggle of goth children never really have. When Kyle considers it all, it really does make sense that the two of them got along.

That doesn’t mean it’s easier to process though, Kyle thinks maybe if he were there to see the situation progress and evolve that he’d have a better chance of getting his brain to fully understand it.

He gets up, or floats more accurately, over to where John and Hal are and grabs an apple from the fruit bowl.

John looks over to where the other two are still sleeping soundly. It’s only about eight thirty, there's no real reason to wake them up yet.

“Guy really hid a whole human from us for over a year, didn’t he?” John sighs.

Hal laughs, “What? It only sunk in now?”

“No but,” John gestures at them, “They seem close.” Kyle snorts, he thinks that might be a bit of an understatement.

Hal shrugs, “Yeah, I understand. Took me a while to get used to as well. I get why Guy didn’t just tell us straight up though.” He replies, pulling some plates out from a cupboard. Kyle notes that he doesn’t have to go looking for them, either Hal is really good at memorising kitchen layouts or he’s been here more times than he’s let on.

John makes a small curious noise, an indication for Hal to continue talking. The other man grimaces lightly.

“Look. I’m not gonna go into detail but,” He pauses, thinking over his words, “Jason’s had it rough. Well. That’s common knowledge, but he’s had it rougher than anyone really knows. He and Guy haven’t told me everything, hell I don’t think Guy knows everything, the shit they have told me though?” Hal winces, “Not. Good. Like, at all. Kid’s had it bad and Guy is probably a little more protective of him than he likes to admit. Didn’t want to rush Jason into anything, though Jason probably would have been cool meeting us months earlier than he did.”

“No, really. Guy? Protective? Can’t believe it.” John deadpans and Kyle huffs.

“It was a surprise to me too,” Hal smiles before softening “They’re good for each other though.”

“Seem to be.” Kyle agrees.

They sit and watch the winter sun fully rise over the horizon as they eat, talking in quiet whispers. The scene gives Kyle some sort of soft nostalgia, the kind that makes his stomach feel comfortingly bottomless. He glances at Jason and Guy at random intervals and as he watches Jason’s nose scrunch in his sleep he’s struck with the intense burning need to get to know this Jason, see how he differs from the Jason Kyle had gotten to know during sleepless nights and fights two years ago.

Half an hour comes and goes and when the clock reaches _9.15_ without Guy or Jason stirring, they decide to stop waiting. John and Kyle suit up and leave through the same window they came from and Hal stays behind waving them off.

They fly north together until they can’t, Kyle knows it would have been quicker to go their separate ways from the start but he likes the company. He doesn’t have much to do in New York, he might change the sheets so he has clean ones when he arrives in two weeks. And he definitely needs to tidy up. And clean his fridge out, he thinks he might have left milk in there the last time he was on Earth, that’s definitely gone off. Ew.

He manages to get some of his chores done once he arrives before his mom calls and he’s thrown off his rhythm. It’s kind of hard to get back into doing chores after that, not that he tries much. Kyle ends up sitting down next to the window and pulling out his sketchbook.

He realizes maybe he hasn’t quite fully registered the Jason situation yet when he looks up from his absent doodling to see a profile of Jason’s face on the page. Or when he cooks pasta for lunch and thinks back to last night’s food. Or when Guy and Hal arrive at their meetup spot the next day with a box of cookies and cupcakes and Jason’s grin flashes in his mind.

Or when he’s floating outside of Guy’s apartment’s window unannounced two weeks later.

* * *

Stupid, he thinks, It’s a stupid idea.

He doesn’t know if Jason is even here, he doesn’t know if Jason is going to revert back to being awkward and argumentative now that Guy isn’t here. He really hopes that no one spots him hovering outside of some random sixth floor window in his Green Lantern suit. The uniforms weren’t really meant to be subtle and he doesn’t want to accidentally give anything away.

There are so many flaws to this plan. Hell, Kyle doesn’t think he can even call it a plan; it's more of an impulsive decision with a small bit of thought put into it.

He waits outside for a few minutes and is about to fly away again when he sees the front door, directly opposite the window he’s waiting by, open and Jason step through. He seems to be working on auto pilot, moving without looking as he moves to take his coat and shoes off. His nose is scrunched and his mouth twitches as he shivers and he clearly isn’t expecting Kyle to be there because when he sees him he lets out a reasonable loud yelp and grips the door, staring right at him.

The surprise in his eyes flickers away after a short moment and he visibly huffs, before striding over the window and opening it, arms crossed as he stares at Kyle.

“Uh. Hi?”

“What are you doing here?” Jason asks, he doesn’t sound angry, but definitely disapproving.

“I wanted to catch up?” He winces at his own uncertainty. “See what you've been up to in the last two years. I didn’t remember to ask last time.”

Jason raises his eyebrow and studies Kyle for a few excruciatingly long seconds. The wind is blowing his hair away from his forehead so Kyle can see the frown lines that his mop of hair would usually hide.

“You know you could have just called right? Didn’t need to wait outside the window.” Jason finally says, stepping aside to let Kyle inside.

“I didn’t have your number.” Kyle replies, dematerialising his uniform.

“Yeah but both Guy and Hal do.” He supposes there really isn’t any excuse.

He can feel Jason’s eyes on him again, can feel the bemusement radiating from the other man as he watches Kyle. He’s so much _calmer_ than he was two years ago, when he reacted on impulse, argued and made snide comments like other people breathed. But under that he’s the same person. He uses the same amused matter of fact tone to point things out to Kyle, he’s just lost the incredulity. He stands in the same position that he used when waiting around two years ago, but there's less tension behind it.

“So, you flew all the way here from California? New York? Just to talk to me? How bored were you? I’m sure you could have thought of better ways to spend your time.”

“Well maybe I wanted to see how you were doing. Clearly a lot has happened.” Kyle comments.

Jason hums and Kyle pretends he doesn’t see the other man’s smile widen by just a fraction. “You call this a lot, Rayner? What about that colour change of yours a while back? That’s what I’m curious about.”

And just like that and shred of wariness and uncertainty fades into background noise as they slip into easy conversation. And Kyle is surprised about how easy it really is. There’s no animosity above teasing and sarcastic comments and Kyle regails Jason with stories of (read: complains about) his time as a White Lantern. He’s so caught up in their back and forth that he barely registers when Jason leads them out of the apartment and to some little coffee shop fifteen minutes away. Kyle should probably be concerned that he was led to a different place without him noticing so easily but there's a lingering bit of trust in Jason back from their multiverse adventure that’s come back full force.

Kyle shoots Jason a look as they enter and the other man just shrugs. “They have nice cake. You want anything?”

That’s another thing Kyle has recently learnt about Jason - he apparently has an incurable sweet tooth. It’s hilarious to imagine the Red Hood, feared crime lord and scourge of Gotham, as a cupcake fanatic but Kyle also finds it extremely endearing. And those cupcakes he’d given to Guy to share were fucking delicious.

Kyle chooses a spot, close to the window, but still far enough that they wouldn’t be able to feel the frost from the window. The cafe was relatively empty, Kyle chalking it up to the fact that it’s currently a Monday afternoon, and Kyle sits around absently until Jason arrives with a tray laden with a blueberry muffin, carrot cake, an espresso and a mocha.

He grins awkwardly at Kyle as he sets the stuff down, in a way that makes his smile seem especially crooked. Kyle knows that Jason’s smile is normally a bit lopsided, it always curls up a little more on his right side. It’s not as obvious usually, especially compared to Guy, but right now Jason’s grin is small, only one half of his mouth is really smiling.

Kyle nods back and resumes the conversation. He asks about the Outlaws, watches Jason’s face light up as he tells Kyle about his escapades with Roy and Koriand’r. He moves animatedly, making little faces to go along with explosion noises and hand gestures whenever there’s some sort of plot twist in the story. He almost knocks over his mocha at one point in the middle of some story about Koriand’r and a nuke and Kyle can hear the smile in his voice as he talks.

Kyle thinks he’s heard Jason talk more in the last twenty minutes than he did in the whole multiverse adventure. Jason’s voice is musical, his thick East Gotham accent comes out in the oddest places just to catch you off guard and he drawls in a way that makes all the words merge together. If Kyle’s chosen art form is drawing, creating something with his hands to see then he’s sure Jason’s must be poetry and words, something spoken that could be soft or harsh, something to visualize mentally.

After a while they run out of things to catch up on and begin to focus on the present and future, (“I’m catching up with Donna this week, you know she....” and “There’s this book I want to read, it’s coming out in a month…”).The flow of it’s a bit sudden, they’re no longer relying on solid events to lead their conversation and both of them seem to be at a bit of a loss.

They’ve pretty much exhausted topics to talk about when they reach the apartment building, a hesitant silence lingering between them.

“This was fun.” 

“Yeah,” Jason replies absently nudging Kyle’s side.

“You up to doing it again sometime?” He tries.

Jason regards him again, just like he had when Kyle was floating outside of his window, brows furrowed and chewing on the inside of his lower lip.

“Sure,” He says eventually, smiling, “But warn me beforehand next time Rayner.” He pauses and then adds as an afterthought, “And use the stairs.”

Kyle gives him a little salute before walking to the nearest alley and flying away.

* * *

“So, Jason mentioned you stopped by when you were planet side.” Guy says one lunchtime in Warriors. The four of them are sitting with Kilowog in a little cluster of bar stools in the corner.

Hal perks up when he hears what Guy has said and Kilowog narrows his eyes in confusion.

“Jason?”

“I’ll tell you later buddy,” Guy replies, waving his hand noncommittally. “Kyle?”

“Yeah, I wanted to catch up, see how he’s been. Actually, do you have his number? I forgot to ask him for it.”

“I’ll stick it in your phone, give here.” Kyle tosses it over and the conversation moves on.

When he checks it later, he sees that Guy has added a note underneath the contact. ‘Stay safe :P - Guy’ it reads and Kyle doesn’t bother trying to decipher it. It’s probably just Guy messing with him again.

* * *

They keep meeting up, much to Jason’s bewilderment. Somehow, he hasn’t chased Kyle away with his death jokes and grumpy demeanour. The second time they hang out Kyle demands Jason show him around the city but they end up lingering in a sweet little park across town that Jason didn’t know existed. Kyle stays for dinner that time, and they make chicken nuggets while complaining about their experiences with Hal’s terrible diet.

Kyle is different to what Jason remembers, not that he’s surprised - he isn’t exactly the same person he was then either - people change. But that doesn’t make Jason like him any less, much to his annoyance. He complains to Guy about it, who doesn’t offer any good advice and instead relays his turmoil to Hal. Kyle is more confident in himself, in his own abilities (Jason thinks his stint as White Lantern helped with that) but he holds that look in his eye of wisdom and exhaustion someone as young as him should never have. It’s a common thing amongst heroes, they see a lot of shit they really shouldn’t have to but there’s some part of Jason that’s angry that Kyle has been through enough to relay that expression. It’s a kind of quiet accepting anger, the kind of anger you get at something inevitable, that you would never have been able to change, but it’s anger nonetheless.

The third time they hang out they just end up lounging around, playing video games and asking stupid questions while sitting on the sofa upside down. At some point Kyle convinces Jason to read the lyrics of Uptown Funk as if performing a Shakespearean sonnet. It’s ridiculous, it’s funny, it’s what Jason wishes his whole life could be like. The kind of unwavering familiarity he only really experiences around Guy, Hal, Roy, Kori and sometimes Talia. The kind of familiarity he’s beginning to have with Kyle, and John too.

The man came down to visit with Guy once, Jason thinks out of curiosity, for a day. He didn’t stay the night, but the apartment was in complete disarray at the time so Jason understands. He likes John, never really heard any individual complaint about him from Bruce when they still worked together and from what he’s heard here and there John seems to be regarded as the sensible one. He’s definitely quieter than the others, maybe the most thoughtful of the lot but he also decided to egg Guy into trying to flip a tomato in his face before laughing when it splatted so forgive Jason if he has his doubt about that judgment. Jason also found out he can be really funny, in a dry sarcastic way, when he made a particularly snide comment about Lex Luthor while they were eating.

Jason’s on his way to meet up with Kyle for the fourth time now, in New York, since he was in the area anyway. Walking from the one of the New York safehouses he has up in the Bronx to their meeting point at the top of Central Park takes about an hour, and even though it’s a nice walk Jason feels on edge. New York is capes territory, there are people that know him that could spot him and superheroes are the type of nosy bunch that wouldn’t just let him slip away. 

It’s late March, he’s wearing a leather jacket with half sleeves and a hood along with jeans, it's not the type of weather where people walking around in bundled up hoodies blend in the crowd and even though his outfit blends in and he dyed his white streak black as an extra precaution. He’s nervous and definitely a little flighty.

He spots Kyle instantly, partly due to all his Bat and League training and partly because not even the New York crowds can hide Kyle and his art hipster meets 90’s band merch style. Kyle doesn’t spot him until Jason’s crossing a road and he starts waving and doing a little half jog to meet him when he reaches the pavement.

He squeezes Jason’s forearm in greeting. “He-” he cuts himself off frowning and lifting his fingers to tug at the front strands of Jason’s hair, where his white hair would be, “You dyed it.” He asks, almost accusatory. Jason is a bit baffled that Kyle cares so much.

“It stands out.” He shrugs and Kyle's expression morphs into a borderline pout but he runs his hand through Jason’s hair once more and lets the subject drop.

“Where are we going?” Jason asks after all the formalities have been exchanged.

“There’s this exhibition at the Guggenheim on the Thannhauser Collection, French Impressionist paintings, which my mom got me tickets for that I wanted to see and then I thought we could just wander around, look at street art and have lunch? There are some antique bookshops around as well if you wanted to look at those.” Kyle explains.

“Sounds great,” Jason smiles, “You’re gonna have to explain all the art shit to me though.”

“Only if you tell me about your classics in return.” Kyle grins bumping his body against Jason’s as they walk.

“Deal.”

The art gallery is packed and doesn’t really appeal to Jason’s taste but when he’s walking around with Kyle as he points out the interesting things and answers Jason’s stupid questions about the shapes in Picasso’s works, he can’t find it in himself to dislike it. Even as he and Kyle and eating oily overpriced cakes from the cafe he isn’t really grumpy, listening to Kyle explain the differences in style and what he doesn’t like about impressionism. From what Jason has seen, Kyle’s drawings are either realistic, drawn from the world around him or in the style of those animes he’s mentioned that he likes, there doesn’t seem to me much overlap with Picasso and his wonky faces.

They get food from some street vendor after they leave and eat it while watching all the street performers and artists. He’s sure this must be a pretty average sight for Kyle but Jason’s never properly spent much time in New York and he can’t help but watch everything going on around him with a certain kind of wonder. New York has a certain kind of charm; it embraces the grungy city aesthetic without going overboard and becoming a living hell like Gotham. There’s something very novel about watching all these different arts and types of expression collide into one place.

Jason drags Kyle into the first bookstore he sees, this cutesy little hole-in-the-wall type thing. It seems like the kind of place a child finds a magical item in one of those dumb Christmas Movies about love. Inside it’s stuffy, the smell of old books and the glowing haze in the air is an atmosphere that Jason adores, it reminds him of all the empty aisles in Gotham libraries that he used to hide in. Kyle seems less enamoured by the book shop, but he doesn’t complain, holding onto Jason’s arm as he pulls them towards it.

“I’m kinda worried some of these will just crumble if I touch them.” Kyle jokes as he looks around.

“Hopefully not, you’d have to pay for them then.” Jason replies absently, picking up a copy of _The Silver Chair_ by C.S. Lewis. It’s not a first edition but the cover is nice. Jason wonders if the rest of the series is around here somewhere.

They leave ten minutes later, when Kyle has finally had enough of the musty old book air and Jason has decided against buying anything new there. One of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make, he personally thinks.

Kyle turns to him, once they’ve tucked themselves away into a small alley so as not to block the pavement.

“Do you want to go shop for more books or something else?”

Jason fans himself with his hand. “We could get ice cream. I’ll pay.”

Kyle grins, “Okay you just became my favourite person ever.”

* * *

“Okay I take it back, you aren’t my favourite person anymore.” Kyle says, staring with a disgusted face at Jason’s ice cream.

“Eh. Wasn’t really doing anything for me anyway,” Jason shrugs, “Why, though?”

“Pistachio, Jason? _Pistachio?_ I thought you were better than that. I thought you were a man of taste.”

Jason hums, shovelling some of the devil’s ice cream into his mouth. “Your fault for assuming Rayner. What did you get?”

“I’m disappointed in you. I got Nutella and Strawberry Sorbet like a nice well-adjusted person would.” Kyle announces, as they cross the street back to Central Park.

“Oh no, you’re disappointed in me. Whatever shall I do? However can I make it up to you Mr Rayner.” Jason says dryly, managing to steal some of Kyle’s ice cream.

“You can never eat Pistachio ice cream ever again for one. Is this what they teach you in Bat school? Do they indoctrinate you into a Pistachio cult? Jason, I have questions.”

Jason is silent for a while, chewing the inside of his cheek. Kyle is worried that he said something awful by accident, a small part of his brain reminds him of how angry Guy sounded when Kyle asked him about the Bat. Jason hasn’t mentioned anything about Gotham’s increasing clan of protectors either. Yeah, Kyle winces, he definitely stumbled into some awkward territory there.

Jason gives him a small smile after a bit though, “Nah, the League of Shadows taught me to be a pistachio lover.”

“I knew there was a reason they were considered villains,” Kyle nods sagely.

Jason shoots him a look. “So, you can excuse all the murder and assassin shit but pista-”

“Pistachio is where I draw the line,” Kyle grins, watching Jason snort, “You get it.”

“Sure.” Jason replies as he flops down on the bench. Kyle joins him, swinging his legs as he sits.

Kyle looks over at Jason as the other man finishes his ice cream. The sun is beginning to set and the park is relatively empty. Jason’s slightly overgrown hair flops over his face (Kyle is so used to seeing the white streak that it feels weirdly disappointing to see it gone) and the ends of a few of his curls dip into his ice cream, slapping against his face as he moves up. Kyle can see an undercurrent of tension in the man’s body, which he understands, it’s there for the same reason the white streak isn’t, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. It means he curls in on himself a little more, his smiles are smaller and he doesn’t gesture as much. And Kyle, as someone who has Jason’s slightly manic grin from the time Kyle said something particularly stupid imprinted in his brain, misses those small details immensely.

“Guy was planet side last week, wasn’t he?” Kyle asks, for lack of better things to say.

Jason hums, “Yeah, Hal stopped by too for a bit as well.” That seems to be a new thing. Wherever Hal or Guy go, there’s a good chance the other isn’t far behind.

“Oh, how was it?” Kyle really needs to get better at conversing.

“Good, you know they’re fine and all,” Jason huffs “Though I did come back from grocery shopping to them making out on the couch, which was awkward.”

_Excuse me?_

“What?” He replies dumbly.

“Yeah, I was like ‘seriously guys?’ They can make out any time they want and they decide to do it when there's a chance I could walk in on them. Weren’t even embarrassed about it, the fuckers.” 

“No, no, rewind. Hal and Guy are...?” He doesn’t say it. Doesn’t really know what he’s implying himself. Dating? Fuck Buddies? Friends who sometimes make out in shared living spaces? _Are they married?_

The corner of Jason’s mouth twitches up infuriatingly. “You didn’t know.”

“No? They never told me. Was I supposed to?” Kyle asks incredulously. His brain might be melting slightly.

“They- uh- they weren’t exactly subtle about it like,” Jason smiles, “Like. At. All.”

How obvious could they have been if Kyle had missed it though, he thinks.

Then his mind flashes back to Hal lying on Guy’s lap that night after the Justice League party. And how overly tactile they've been recently. And how Guy’s hand is usually resting on Hal’s waist or intertwined with the other man’s. Or how often they leave or arrive from places together. Oh, and hell, Hal literally left a party to go hang out with him.

Okay, yeah. Maybe he shouldn’t have missed something so glaringly obvious.

John had known too hadn't he? With all his small comments and very well disguised innuendos. Was Kyle the only one who didn’t know?

Jason places a hand on his arm and looks at him half sympathetically half amused. “They got together when Guy brought Hal with him for Thanksgiving. You should be kinda glad you didn’t notice, cause their pining before that was _painful.”_ Jason says lightly, shaking his head.

“I can’t believe I missed it.” Kyle groans sinking down the bench slowly.

“Maybe you should work on your observation skills.” Jason says patting his head.

“I mean, yeah. I’m missing shit that’s right in front of me Jason. How?” He answers, words slightly muffled due to the fact that his chin is squished against his chest.

Jason makes a funny little face, one Kyle can’t really get a read on, before he snaps back to neutral and looks ahead.

“Hm.” He replies, and Kyle can feel some awkward shift in the atmosphere as he sits up. They sit there for a little bit, as the sun sets and Kyle watches the weak March winds ruffle Jason’s hair. 

After a while Kyle sighs, “It’s getting late, you need a ride home?”

“No, it’s alright, just under an hour's walk.” Jason smiles back, fingers twitching.

“Jason,” Kyle says, and he has enough self-awareness to admit that it sounds a little whiny. “It’s almost dark, let me drop you off.”

Jason regards him, green eyes squinting ever so slightly. “You do realise I’m a creature of the night right,” Kyle stares at him harder and Jason relents. “If it helps you sleep at night.”

Kyle grins, making a little construct magic carpet for Jason to sit on and suiting up. Jason looks at him, eyebrows raised before sighing, but Kyle can see the small smile on the other man’s face. 

He isn’t fooling anyone.

* * *

Kyle suddenly remembers that Hal and Guy are together now when he sees Hal back on Oa. Sue him, he’d been caught up in meeting people and fighting things, it slipped his mind.

He immediately decides to confront Hal about it when he bumps into the other man though.

“So, you’re dating Guy.”

Hal looks at him amusedly. “What finally gave it away?”

“Uh- Jason told me.”

“You’ve been hanging around with him a lot lately.”

“Yeah?” Kyle says defensively, “Back to the point, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Figured you’d find out eventually.” Hal smirks, “Maybe, once you got the wedding invites or something.”

Kyle pointedly ignores the teasing. “Are you happy?”

“Yeah.” Hal says, smiling softly, “Yeah I am.”

“That’s good.”

Hal grins and nudges his side. “Yup. You meeting up with Jason anytime soon?”

“I got clearance from the Guardians to work on a mission on Earth so maybe? Why?”

“No reason.” Hal shrugs.

Kyle frowns but doesn’t question further, saying his goodbyes and heading off to his Sector House to sleep.

* * *

“Hey Jason.” Kyle begins, looking across at the man on the other side of the little rickety metal table they’re eating on, who currently has his mouth stuffed with fries. 

“Hm?”

“You saw that new Jane Austen movie right.”

Jason swallows, looking at him from behind his sunglasses. “Emma?”

“That’s the one.”

“Yeah, why?” 

“Saw an old poster for it on the way here, thought it might be something you’d like. Is it any good?”

Jason smiles, tapping his top lip in thought, “It was good. I preferred Clueless but Emma wasn’t ever my favourite Jane Austen book so there wasn’t much to live up to,” Jason shrugs, “It was pretty enough, though neither of her love interests were that hot which sucked.” 

Kyle feels his brain slow down again, not freeze like the other two Jason led revelations he’s had recently, but he’s still surprised. He’s not really sure if that small comment meant anything but his heart jumps slightly when he hears it.

Testing the waters, he smiles back, “I’m pretty sure period clothing isn’t gonna be the most flattering on anyone.”

Jason scoffs, “Colin Firth, James McAvoy? Orlando Bloom and the guy from a Princess Bride as well. I would die again for any of them.”

Something weird settles in his chest as he processes it. In all their time hanging Kyle had never really considered that Jason was anything but straight. Apart from those assumptions with Donna he’d never really thought about the man being romantically involved with anyone. It made him feel odd, for some reason. It wasn’t because he was uncomfortable with Jason not being straight, Kyle wasn’t either, you’re unable to really define yourself with human sexualities when you worked with aliens who couldn’t fit into human boxes. And he didn’t feel weird around Hal and Guy and all their slightly insufferable romantic shit so he doubted it was internalised homophobia.

“You good Kyle?” Jason asks, dragging him back into the real world, “Zoned out again.”

“I’m fine, sorry I just didn’t realise you were…” Kyle gestures lamely.

Jason raises an eyebrow. “Are you saying, this entire time we’ve been hanging out, you haven’t realized I’m a raging homosexual? I don’t know whether I should feel disappointed in myself for not making it more obvious or you for not noticing.”

“We have established that my observation skills are shit.”

“Good point. It’s all your fault.” Jason says, pointing a fry at him.

Kyle clears his throat. “So- uh- you fancy yourself a Mr Darcy to settle down with Mr Todd?”

Jason grins, “And what of it Mr Rayner, I see no issue in my wishes.” He replies in a horrible version of a posh voice.

Kyle laughs and throws some lettuce at Jason, “There is no issue at all Mr Todd. It was merely an enquiry.”

“Good to hear.” Jason replies and Kyle knows his eyes are shining behind those sunglasses.

They part ways soon after that and Kyle sets off, flying back to California to stay with his mom. He doesn’t fly at top speed, likes watching the land beneath him blur into colours and shapes, it gives him time to think as well.

Jason is a bit of a puzzle to Kyle, he likes the man a lot, he’s fun but still down to earth and they get on well, despite their rocky start when they first met. But the revelation that he’s not straight seems to have unlocked something in Kyle’s brain. Some possibilities have brought to light that he has never thought of before.

It’s not that he hasn’t noticed that Jason is handsome (Wayne has a knack for finding orphans with good genes), Kyle is an artist, he knows these things. For a while he had hated it, the jealous part of his brain deciding that Donna couldn’t resist a man like that. Oh, how stupid he had been. But back to the point, Jason is handsome and he’s blunt and rough around the edges but he’s nice too and maybe the past few months as well as some fuzzy memories from years ago are making him realise that perhaps he’s always had a small thing for Jason or maybe it has died off and then become reignited.

Either way Kyle’s realizing that his plan to befriend Jason has turned into him unconsciously wanting more and he’s struggling to find it within himself to mind. Kyle knows he’s a romantic at heart, this is the kind of stuff that appeals to him.

He might have a chance with Jason as well, the other man enjoys hanging out with Kyle and sexuality isn’t a problem. But then again, just because Jason’s gay it doesn’t mean he likes Kyle and you can enjoy hanging out with friends too. Romance, as much as Kyle loves it, is unnecessarily confusing sometimes.

He stops thinking about it when he sees his mom’s house come into view, landing in an inconspicuous corner a few minutes away and tucking all thoughts of Jason to the back of his mind.

* * *

“‘M pretty sure that’s the third time I’ve seen you draw Jason in two weeks. Got anything you wanna tell me?” Guy’s voice says from behind the bar. Kyle doesn’t even need to look up to know there’s a smirk on his face. Kyle can detect a warning under the amusement, not that he expected any different. Guy’s protective over Jason (which Kyle still thinks is kind of funny, considering only one of them is a trained assassin and it’s not Guy).

There’s no use in pretending so Kyle looks up and smiles impishly, “Maybe.”

He feels heat rise to his cheeks as Guy wolf-whistles and he pretends to ignore John handing over money to Hal.

“You know the spiel kid,” Guy starts, “Be good. Don’t hurt him or I’ll hurt you. And I’ll get Hal to help - right babe?” 

“Huh?” Hal says, confused. John elbows him in the ribs. “Oh, right yeah, don’t break his heart.”

“You guys do know we’re not actually together right? I just have a crush on him.” Kyle protests.

“Yeah, and what are you gonna do about that?” Guy asks unimpressed.

“I- what?”

“Kyle, Jace isn’t gonna make the first move, I love the kid but he has rejection issues for days. It’s up to you Mr Romance, how are ya gonna woo your man?”

“Jason likes me?”

“I thought that was implied,” Hal pipes up, he and John have moved to join them and Hal has decided to tuck himself under Guy’s arm.

The conversation switches then and Kyle joins in, but all through that night and for a few days after that there's a small section of his brain, constantly preoccupied with figuring out how to date Jason Todd.

* * *

His first attempt, which just consists of bringing Jason to a restaurant and maybe buying him flowers on the way there, is foiled when he is greeted with a very battered Jason opening the door, black eye and bandage peeking out from under his hoodie.

“You look like you had a rough day.” Kyle jokes as he enters the apartment.

“Hm.” Jason replies, trying - and failing - to hide his slight limp, “You should see the other guys.”

“Christ Jason,” Kyle sighs reaching up to cup Jason’s face, thumb resting just below the bruise.

They don’t go out that night and honestly? Kyle doesn’t mind. The restaurant plan was a bit too impersonal anyway and he really enjoyed just lounging around with Jason and playing video games. He probably could have confessed then and there, but sue the romantic in him, he wanted it to be special.

Plan 2 was to take him to the movies in this little retro cinema Kyle liked near his apartment. But then some D-List villain decided to attack and the whole street was put out of commission.

Plans 3 and 4 were ruined by the Guardians and Justice League respectively needing help. At this point he was becoming increasingly frustrated. It amused the other Lanterns who just patted him on the back and gossiped about “young love”.

Plan 5 failing is his fault, he wanted to confess at sunrise, which was beautiful to watch from Guy and Jason’s apartment roof. But he ended up oversleeping thanks to space jet lag. 

By this point Kyle was getting so increasingly annoyed that he spent most of his time stewing over the fact that his plans didn’t work, rather than coming up with a new one.

Which is how he ends up lounging around with Jason in the park near his apartment, with absolutely no clue what to do.

It’s a hot day, the kind of temperature you wouldn’t expect from mid-June not late May but they’re sitting in the shade so it’s bearable. The humidity does make Jason’s hair curl more than normal and listening to the repetitive annoyed huffs he can hear from the other side of the picnic blanket, it’s frustrating Jason a bit. He’s leaning against a tree, engrossed in his book absentmindedly eating strawberries from the packet he commandeered from the picnic basket.

Little patches of sun filter down through the leaves, illuminating parts of Jason’s face unequally as he reads. It’s the kind of light that makes his hair look more dark brown than black and highlights the freckles that have appeared full force in the May sun. Angel kisses highlighted by the light of heaven; he’d think if he were more poetic.

Guy may have the most freckles (which Kyle knows both by looking at him and from Hal gushing about them when tipsy) but Jason has them in surplus too, dotted along his face, neck and shoulders and winding up his forearms. Kyle’s never really noticed them before, they’re mostly seasonal, but he likes them. A lot. There are sketches lying around his apartment and Sector House that can attest to that.

He’s drawing right now, little doodles of the ducks in the pond a few meters away, this one oddly shaped tree they passed on the way here. He draws the flowers in front of him and Jason’s face as he concentrates on reading and little cartoon versions of the Lanterns. He adds Jason in after a bit of deliberation, he’s so used to associating them with each other that it seems slightly odd to have him missing.

It’s kind of funny how easily but accidentally Jason has been integrated into their little group, according to Guy it’s “the most people that’ve been ‘n that place in a while”. Kyle wonders what the Bat would make of that, five months into knowing about Jason and he’s still no closer to knowing what’s up between Jason and Wayne. It’s clear that the situation isn’t good in any way, but apart from that Kyle is clueless.

He looks up from his drawing just to see Jason hit the back of his head on the tree, after a particularly violent attempt at getting the hair out of his face. He scowls and rubs the back of his head, swearing in several different languages under his breath. The only reason Kyle can tell what the words are is because Jason swears so often, he’s gained a sixth sense for knowing when a word in a foreign language is a curse or not.

“Fucking shit _merde skata_ ow.” He grumbles.

When he sees Kyle smiling at him, he frowns deeper (Kyle would call it a pout but he values his life, thanks) and flips his middle finger at him. Kyle can hear some poor woman gasp from nearby.

“Can’t you like fucking, make some shit to keep this back?” Jason grouches eloquently, waving at his head.

“You want me to construct you a hairband?” Kyle smirks.

“Yeah Rayner, you got a problem with that?”

“Not really. But what if people notice?” 

Jason snorts stretching his limbs out. “Don’tcha know Kyle? Neon green is all the range these days, folks won’t give a flying fuck.”

Kyle feels very sorry for any parents whose children manage to overhear Jason but he shrugs and constructs a hairband for Jason and hands it over. Keeping the construct up won’t be an issue for Kyle, he doesn’t need his full concentration on the hair band, or any at all really. Jason looks dumb, strands stich up from behind where they’ve been pushed back giving him an awkward spiky halo. He supposes the green does match his eyes though.

They settle back into silence as Jason picks up his book again, furrowing his eyebrows when he sees the corner has creased. This is what it often ends up being with Jason, two people just existing in each other's company, for all his chatter and dramatics, Jason values silence just as much, if not more. Kyle deals with crazy Lantern issues and Hal and Guy’s regular bullshit up on Oa and New York happens to be a prime hotspot for crime and villains so Kyle doesn’t get a lot of time to relax. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy the peace and quiet he gets without Jason, but there is something about being able to spend his calm down time with Jason that makes Kyle feel warm inside.

He can safely admit he’s pretty gone for Jason Todd.

He looks up after a bit, after shifting to get better drawing light and getting distracted, it looks like Jason’s distracted too, starting over Kyle’s, probably at the ducks, his book resting open in his lap. There’s a very small smile on his face, the one Jason gets when something dumb and random makes him laugh, like a surprise picture of an eagle or the word “spimch”. It’s one of Kyle’s favourite expressions on Jason, the lines of his eyes are soft and his cheeks are raised ever so slightly. Delighted amusement dances openly across his face.

Kyle’s eyes flick down, to the book Jason his holding limply in his lap and _oh no._

_He’s getting ideas._

Jason had forced him to watch the movie last month and Kyle didn’t pay crazy amounts of attention, but between that and his thought out plans to woo Jason he’s gotten to know some of the source material pretty well. One of those awful little impulsive ideas begins to twist in his brain.

_Is he really going to do this now?_

Looking at Jason’s crinkled nose, with flecks of sunlight spinning across it he decides, _yeah. You know what? Fuck it._

He lurches forward awkwardly, stopping right in front of Jason, who’s attention snaps away from the pond and onto him. The headband in his hair disappears.

“Hey, Jason.” He fumbles.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, uh-” He reaches to cup Jason’s face, jerkily, “Hey. Um, you- uh- gotta allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and- uh- love you.”

For one terrifying second, Jason freezes, his whole body goes tense and his expression is blank, Kyle’s heart stops.

But then he lets out a little snort and his composure breaks and he starts giggling leaning his face into Kyle’s hand as he laughs, almost silently, his body shaking. He laughs and a smile spread across his face, filled with such utter fondness and adoration and Kyle forgets to breathe again as he processes that it’s a smile meant for _him._

Slowly after the panic subsidies he joins in, a small nervous but sappy smile appearing on his face as he watches this man, this beautiful, beautiful man laugh so softly at something he said.

Jason calms down, Kyle watches as he tries and ultimately fails to school his face back into a neutral position, that smile isn’t budging, he can see the corners of Jason’s lips twitch up every time he’s almost close to getting rid of it. It’s achingly endearing to watch.

“You know,” Jason breathes, voice nothing more than an amused whisper, he moves one of his hands to rest on Kyle’s waist, “After Darcy says that in the book, Elizabeth rejects him pretty harshly.”

Kyle grins back at him, taking one of his hands off Jason’s face to grab the man’s free hand, dragging it up to his shoulder.

“Well then,” He replies at an equal volume, “Here’s hoping I’ve got better luck than Mr Darcy.”

Jason smiles, so, _so,_ gently, leaning in until their lips are just millimetres apart.

“Here’s hoping, huh.”

And then Jason closes the gap, all but smashing his mouth on Kyle’s as he kisses him fervently. And hell, even though Kyle’s been waiting for this, even though he knew it was coming he still finds that it takes time to process.

_Jason Todd. Jason Fucking Todd is kissing him. Holy shit._

He kisses back as soon as he can, leaning in as Jason grips his hip like isn’t an anchor. He tangles one of his hands on Jason’s hair and when the other man makes a little whiny noise Kyle can safely confirm that he shuts down, hearing.

He moves to break apart when Jason starts to pry Kyle’s lips open with his tongue, leaning back and looking at Jason ruefully.

“Maybe not in the Park.” he grins and Jason suddenly becomes aware of their surroundings as he blushes darkly.

“Uh, yeah.” He says hoarsely.

“You wanna take this back to yours?” Kyle hums, pecking Jason on the cheek. And then on the nose for good measure. 

He gets no reply but Jason moves to start packing up, looking at him with a small grin that Kyle can’t help but kiss a few times when he sees it.

He can’t help kissing Jason when they leave the Park either, or when they reach Jason’s street, or his apartment, or his front door. And Kyle feels giddy with excitement when he realises there really isn’t anything stopping him from doing so.

“Ridiculous,” Jason huffs fondly when he tells him so.

Even later, while he’s drifting off asleep with Jason curled next to him, Kyle wonders why he spent all that effort making those plans at all, when he confessed pretty much on impulse and it turned out perfect.

* * *

“So,” John begins, swirling his drink as they sit clustered around Warriors in Oa. “You finally confess this time?”

They’d been asking him that every time he came back from Earth, always groaning and then being purposely unhelpful after he complained about how it hadn’t worked out that time. They were probably expecting him to say no again this time, he hadn’t even had a plan going down there.

Guy knew already, Jason had gently forced Kyle to ring call him and let him know after they had talked it over but they had made him promise not to tell the others.

(“Not even Hal?” He had said, pouting slightly.

Jason snorted from where his head was resting on Kyle’s shoulder, arms around his waist. “Nah, not even Hal, sorry.”)

Kyle grinned against his own glass, turning to face John. “Yeah. Yeah I did.”

The group was silent for a bit, Hal turning to Guy and raising an eyebrow. The faith his friends had in him was astounding.

“Yup,” Guy says with his usual lazy smile, “He’s tellin’ the truth.”

Hal and John descend on him then, elbowing him and grinning and rustling his hair with comments of “about time,” and “I knew you’d do it eventually,”. Guy gives him a thumbs up from behind the bar and Kilowog corners him later to slap him on the back, Kyle’s balance isn’t helped by the fact that he’s tipsy, and he unfortunately goes flying. The others laugh at his expense.

He hangs up a new photo in his sector house, one of them on the roof of the apartment. It’s their first official date, wonderfully low effort. Jason had just ordered some takeout and they had flown up to the roof to watch the sunset. Jason is kissing his cheek in the picture, as he grins to the camera, faces reflecting the pink clouds in the sky and the gold of the setting sun.

He pins it up underneath a few other drawings and pictures (including one or two of Jason) and it both blends in and stands out against Kyle’s wall collage of memories and for all the colours and distractions among it, his eyes don’t ever really leave that photo as he falls asleep.

* * *

It becomes a habit for the two of them to spend time on the roof, an unspoken tradition by their third date. The only time they discuss it is when Kyle asks how they’ll keep this up in the colder months and Jason replies by saying that he really needs to get his eyes checked if he missed all the blankets in the apartment.

They’re sitting up there tonight, leaning against the chimneys and watching the last shred of the sun’s light disappear before the sky is completely dark. Kyle’s lying on Jason’s lap, eyes closed as they talked. 

He opens his eyes to see Jason staring out into the distance as Kyle talks, he can’t see any of his boyfriend’s _(boyfriend!)_ expression from where he’s lying but Kyle knows him well enough he’s probably got that small private smile on his face, the one that looks fond in a way that reflects Jason’s tiredness.

Kyle reaches up to poke him in the chin. He sticks his tongue out when Jason looks down at him quizzically.

“I’m just thinking,” Jason says, voice soft in a way that matches the atmosphere they’ve created. “When Guy invited me to stay that first night, I never expected all this to happen.” It’s unlike Jason to be over sentimental of the past, Kyle is glad he gets to be though.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jason parrots, “It’s good though.”

Kyle laughs silently. “Yeah, Jason. It is good.”

**Author's Note:**

> probably won't update for a little while after this, i have a couple other things i'm also working on. the next part is in the works, but it's slow :( (already over 4k though whoops  
> check me out at [starboysdcdumpster](https://starboysdcdumpster.tumblr.com/)


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